The invention concerns a measuring system with a test strip having at least one test field and a measuring device for optically or by means of electrical current measuring the test field, wherein the test strip or a test strip package containing at least one test strip has associated with it a code carrier carrying coded information about the manufacturing of the test strip or about the measurement to be carried out.
Measuring systems of the above-mentioned kind are, for example, used for the monitoring of the concentration of certain substances in body fluids, for example, for blood sugar determination. Test strips of different manufacturing batches can have characteristic data differing from one another. Therefore, these characteristic data must be communicated to the measuring device for the carrying out of the measurement. Also, it is possible that such a measuring device is suited for the carrying out of different types of measurements. In this case, the measuring device before the insertion of the test strip must be informed about what measurement the inserted test strip is intended for. Such data are customarily stored in the code carrier.
This invention has as it object the provision of a measuring system of the previously mentioned kind wherein code carriers of different form are couplable with one and the same measuring device or whereby one and the same code carrier is couplable with different measuring devices.
This object is solved in accordance with the invention by an adapter which is on one hand couplable with the measuring device and on the other hand is connectable with the code carrier. The inventive solution offers the possibility of using code carriers of different kind and shape with one and the same measuring device. While the measuring device has a relatively long useful life, the useful life of the code carrier is generally relatively limited to the time within which a test strip package is used and with which package the code carrier is supplied. The code carriers are, therefore, often changed, and perhaps there exists the possibility of buying another memory chip on the market, or that the manner of storing the coded information may be changed. In all these cases, the adapter need be only suited to the changed code carrier while the measuring device itself remains unchanged. Likewise, there exists the possibility of providing differently shaped adapters for different measuring devices so that one and the same code carrier can find use in different measuring devices.
Preferably, the measuring device has a adapter receiver, which for example can be formed as an insertion chamber or as a plug with at least a portion of the outer contour of the adapter being formed complementary to the shape of the adapter receiver. The adapter receiver and the adapter can, therefore, be related to one another according to a kind of lock and key principle. Preferably, the adapter receiver and the part of the adapter contour which corresponds to it are asymmetrically shaped so that the adapter can be inserted into the adapter recess in only one given way.
In the same way, the adapter can have a carrier recess for the code carrier which is asymmetrically shaped with the outer contour of the code carrier being formed complementary to the carrier recess.
If the code carrier has an electronic memory for storing the coded information or consists of such a memory chip, it is desirable if the adapter has first electric contact elements for electrical connection with the code carrier and second electric contact elements for electrical connection with counter contact elements in the adapter recess, with the first and second contact elements being connected with one another by conductor paths. In this way, the spatial arrangement of the terminals on the code carrier can match a spatial arrangement suited for the electrical connection with the measuring device.
The conductor paths can, for example, consist of conductive adhesive.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the adapter has a transponder-reading unit for the reading of data out of the memory of the code carrier and for transmitting the data to the measuring device. Preferably, in this case, the transponder-reading unit is constructed for the conversion of the data format in which the data is stored in the code carrier to a data format suited for the processing of the data in the measuring device. Therefore, the manufacturer of the code carrier is relatively free to select the style in which the data is stored in the memory of the code carrier. The transponder-reading unit reads the data from the memory and converts it as the case may be into a form suitable for processing in the measuring device.
Further features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the further dependent claims and the following description which, with reference to the accompanying drawings, explain the invention by way of exemplary embodiments.